Let’s Check Your Fear Here So You Stop Holding Yourself Back

If I sat here and counted out for you all the times I’ve been afraid, we’d be here all year. The thing is, when things terrify me, I do them anyway. I face my fears, and they’ve included completely changing careers, quitting jobs, asking for raises, and making the stomach churning leap to work for myself.

I’ve been afraid of not being good enough, or talented enough, or smart enough. I’ve questioned myself so hard it prevented me from moving forward. I’ve been afraid of messing up my life, my future, my career.

I’ve been afraid of making mistakes, of putting myself out there, of not making enough money or friends. I bet you can relate to one of these, or maybe even all of these.

Fear can be completely and utterly paralyzing. Fear can be the only thing standing between you and success, and in fact it probably is.

My Mom always taught me that working hard and putting yourself out there are all it takes to succeed and she wasn’t wrong there. It’s really that simple to be successful so let’s check your fear here so you stop holding yourself back.

What Are You Actually Afraid Of?

It’s helpful to stop and take a moment to identify what you’re actually afraid of. It’s a small step towards confronting your fear, and by acknowledging it like that you can take the first action in reducing it.

Are You Afraid Of The Unknown?

Quite often, your fear could simply be stemming from the unknown. Evaluate this. Are you afraid of the unknown? If you are, knowledge is key. It’s that easy. Take the time to research and educate yourself about that which you are afraid of. Or ask someone who really knows about the topic that scares you to help you with where you’re falling short. Knowledge is power, after all.

Practice Makes Perfect

Let’s say you identify your fear, and it’s something along the lines of landing your dream career, nailing an interview, or wowing someone with a presentation. Practice makes perfect, so practice, practice, practice what’s scaring you so you can get a handle on it.

Keep It Can Do

Even if you’re not feeling particularly positive, keep your attitude one of can do. Push yourself to be positive. It’s no secret that positive people always keep trying and always find a way to work through something, including fear. And if you find you can’t actually altogether be positive, and least keep it going and moving forward in the meantime. Fake it until you make it, baby.

Don’t Let Failure Be An Option

I got to a point in my life where I just didn’t let failure be an option for me. I got good at focusing on what my success could be, instead of what my failure could be.

Close your eyes and think about what your success will look like. Even if you are afraid, you can choose to focus on success instead of failure to help you get over your fears.

Get Your Cheerleaders

Every girl needs her cheerleaders. When you surround yourself with people who lift you up and believe in you, even when you don’t have the ability to believe in yourself, it has an impact.

For me, my Mom, my Aunts, and my husband are the people who consistently tell me I can do something far before I believe I can on my own. Having people like this who push you towards getting over fear really shapes how you judge fear for yourself.

It gets to a point where you consistently succeed with the help of your cheerleaders, and then you start to forget to be afraid of things in the first place.

Bre is a female millennial go getter residing in New York. One part entrepreneur, one part geek, she obtained her degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology.

She has held some exciting roles in both fashion as a designer working for brands like Victoria’s Secret and Henri Bendel, as well as in ad tech working for publishers like Ziff Davis.

Today she operates her own luxury label and is also the Chief Chick at Chipchick.com which reaches millions of women each month.

Bre is passionate about keeping women informed of the latest technology trends and products to improve their lifestyle and believes in providing real, useful information and advice to her readers.